Trooper wanted his role kept mum

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. -- A Pennsylvania state trooper who was with Ben Roethlisberger the night the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was accused of sexual assault in Georgia was worried the department would find out.

In an interview, Ed Joyner asks a Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent to let him know before she ran his name or Social Security number.

"It is very imperative that if anything is going southward, you end up running that, you have to call me before you do that," he said in the interview on March 13. "You've got to because what will happen is it will flag. As soon as you run any trooper's name, it flags."

"You know, my department, I don't really have to let them know unless I'm the subject of [an investigation]," he said. "As a witness, there's no reason to. But once they run your name, they're like 'If you're a witness, what the hell are they running your name for?' "

The interview was one of more than 50 audio and video recordings released Wednesday from the investigation into a college student's claim that Roethlisberger raped her in a nightclub bathroom March 5.

GBI documents also indicate that Joyner called a GBI agent who had reached out to Joyner's boss and appeared to be upset that the agent had contacted the Pennsylvania State Police.

Reached by The Associated Press on his cell phone Wednesday evening, Joyner said he would not comment.

Pennsylvania State Police have said an investigation into Joyner's actions could take until August. The department has barred him from working as Roethlisberger's personal assistant.

Two friends of the 20-year-old college student told investigators that Joyner and suburban Pittsburgh policeman Anthony Barravecchio kept them from getting to their friend while she was with Roethlisberger. Joyner and Barravecchio told investigators those claims are untrue.

Joyner and Barravecchio told investigators they are friends of the star quarterback and sometimes work as his personal assistant.